rowell



BWC. HOWELL, DECD. 'L C ROWELL EXYECUTIHX "TRAIN BRAKE CONTROLLING MECHANISM.

' APPLICATION man AUG.4|19!3. 1,193,473.

Patgnted Aug. 1,1916.

/ t1 am, #4116 BENTON C. ROWELL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS; LILLA C.

ROWELL 'BENTON C. HOWELL, DECEASED. I

. TRAIN-BRAKE-CQNTEOiLLING MECHANISM.

Application filed August 4, 1913. Serial No. 782,762. I

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it know that 1, BENTON G. Rowntn, a citizen of the United States, residing in Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Train-Brake-Controlling Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in tiain brake controlling mechanism and is in the 'natureor' an improvement upon my invention disclosed in my copending appli cation No. 579,978 for train instrun'ient for signal systems tiled September 1, 1910.

One objectofthe invention is to provide a train brake controlling mechanism which is adapted to be operated by a track instrument or train'stop when the latter is at danger. said controlling mechanism being so arranged that when tripped by the train stop, it will firstcause a service application of the train brakesand subsequently cause an emergency application of the train brakes if the engineer has not in the interim assumed control of the train.

Another object of the invention is to provide a train brake controlling mechanism of the type above indicated having means under the control of the engineer in the ab, by which the mechanism may be reset after it has been tripped or released by h train stop.

Another object of the. invention is to pro vide a mechanisn'i of the type above indi cated arranged so as to prevent the engineer from resetting the controlling mechanism after it has once been released. or holding the mechanisn'i closed and set without at the same time applying the brakes.

The invention furthermore consists in the irmn-ovements in the parts and devices and in the'novel combinations of the parts and devices as herein shown, described or claimed. I

In practice, it has been. found that it is notalways desirable to cause an emergency application of the train brakes when an engineer'has run past a train stop or track instrument set against him, but to provide means whereby the engineer may assume control'of his train even after the brake controlling mechanism has been tripped or re leased. With such an arrangement it is alsodesirable that means he provided which compel the engineer to actandassume control of his train within a predetermined Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 1, 1916.

period after the controlling mechanism has been tripped by the train stop, and such means are provided in'the mechanism which I amnow about to' describe. 5 s

In the drawing forming a part of tlis EXEGUTRIX. 0F SAID specification, Figure .1 is a,diagrammat1c sketch illustrating my improvements and showing the connection of thesame with the air brake pi pes of a train. cal sectional view of my improved train instrument which is adapted to be tripped or released by a cooperating track-instrument or train 'stop. Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail sectional view showing more particularly the means governing the releasing of the'train instrument valve. Fig. 4: is a plan View of a controlling valve employed with my mechanism. Fig. 5 is a vertical section of the controlling valve, taken substantially on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially 0n the line 66 of Fig. 5 and Fig. 7 is a detail enlarged sectional view of one of the valves. In said drawing, the train instrument proper is shown as comprising a casing 10 having an nlet 11 at the top thereof adapted to be connected with the train pipe of a train brakesystem, the interior of the oils ingbeingthus always under train-pipe air pressure. At the bottom of the casing 10 is provided a valve seat 152 closed by a Ver-' tically reciprocating valve 13, the latter be ing slidably mounted in brackets 14 which in turn are adapted to be secured to any suitable part of the engine or tender, as by means of bolts 15. The valve 13 is held in .closed position against the train-pipe air pressure by a pivoted lever 16, one .arm l'i Fig. 2 is a vertim of which engages'beneath a washer 18 slidably mounted on the valve stem 19, the.

washer 18 serving to compress a spring-20 encircling the stem 19.

21 of the lever 16 is held plate 22, the latter being locked position by pawls (not shown) and, adapted'to be released when the plate 22 is engaged by a track instrument or train stop set at danger. As will be obvious, when the plate 22 is released and valve 13' will be thereby The opposite arm down by a headed released and opened. The structure above described and"; "its operation is more clearly and specificallyv 1 .described in my said copending application to which referencejmay behad.

.Wrth the mechanism above described,

normally held in J lifted upward, the

which is the same as that described in my said copending application, a tripping of the valve, unless means are provided to prevent it, would cause an emergency application of the brakes since the train pipe would be left open to the atmosphere. However, for the purpose of preventing such emergency application of the brakes at first and to allo a suflicient interval of time within which the engineer may assume control of the train, I provide a slidable lock or detent 24.- which normally in the path of a shoulder formed on the under side of the valve 13 and adapted to prevent the same from opening completely, the lock or detent A, as shown in Fig. 3, being normally disposed slightly below the shoulder For holding .the detent 24 in its normal position, it is provided with a valve 26 normally closing the valve opening '27, said valve 26 being held :wainst its seat only by the toll air pressure of the train pipe as hereinafter described. The valve 26 is movable within a chamber "L2H, the latter normally being ander full trainpipe air pressure which is sup plied through a valve 29 (more particularly hereinafter described) and passageway 30 cmmnunicating with the interior of the chamber ll). Vihen the valve 29 is thus opened, the pressure within the chamber 28 will fall and the valve 26 is so balanced by a spring ilil, that upon a decrease of pressure within the chamber 28 below a predetermined amount. it will cause the valve 26 to be opened, thereby drawing with it the dctent ill and permitting the valve 1?, to be fully and completely opened, thus causing an emergency application oi the brakes. as shown in Fig. 7, the valve 29 is provided with a spring controlled needle valve 3-4 so disposed that it will permit air to pass downwardly through the valve 29 when the pressure is greater upon the top tl1ereot' tlnm on the bottom, but will not perl'nit the es cape of air from the chamber 28 through the valve 2%). From the preceding description it will be seen that by regulating the amount which the valve 13 is allowed to open, the rate of discharge of air from the train pipe can be governed and the time calculated which will elapse between the first opening of the valve 13 and the time when the pressure above the valve 29 will be reduced suiliciently to permit the latter to open and in this way governing the time which elapses between the service and emergency applications of the brakes.

The means for permitting the engineer to assume control of his train. if he is attentive to duty, without the train being brought to a full stop attcrvthe train instrument has been operated, comprise a valve resetting rod which is in the Form oi a piston rod ha ving a piston I'll; secured thereto. the latter being movable within a cylinder 1-37, said shown, comprises a valve casing 41 having 'alincd ports 42 and 4-3 leading respectively to the reservoir and the cylinder, and a tapered oscillatable plug valve -l-l adapted to be operated by handle 45, said plug valve -l-l having a passageway -16 therein adapted to establish communication between the ports 42 and 43. From an inspection of the drawing, it will be seen that when the passageway ll is turned so as to place the reservoir in communication with the cylinder 37, the g0 resetting rod 35 will be elevated, thereby engaging the projection 4-7 on the valve stem 19 and resetting or closing the valve 13.

In order to prevent the engineer from rc- Setting his train instrument without apply-' 5 ing the brakes and at least slowing 'of' the tram, and also to prevent him from holding the valve 123 closed without applying the brakes, I provide a pipe connection 48 from the train pipe to a port ll) in the governing valve 40, said port 4-9 being located at right angles to the ports 42 and i3 and located in the same plane therewith. The plug valve t t is also provided with a passageway 50 arranged as shown in Figs. 5 and (l and communicating with the atmosphere at the bottom thereof. The passageway 50 is so arranged that when the reservoir and cylinder 37 are placed in commonication with each other, the train pipe will be opened to the atmosphere, thereby causing an applica' tion of the brakes which can only be removed by turning, the handle l5 and then releasing the brakes by opcrating the engi' neers valve in the usual manner. When the handle 45 is turned to release the brakes, cylinder 3': is opened to the atmosphere through passage my Fill and piston 36 will thereupon drop by gravity, thus providing clearance for the valve 13 and removing resistance to operation of the latter. A resetting of the valve 13 will also cause a resetting-of the stop or dctent 24 since the projection 47 on the valve stem ll) is provided with a cam face 51 which engages a pivoted lever having its upper end thereof ongaging'in a recess 53 in the stop 24 and adapted to operate the latter. i

Although I have herein shown and dcscribed what I now consider the preferred embodiment of my improvements, yet it will be understood that various changes and l modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention,

and all such changes and mmlilications are 1'35 contemplated as come within the scope of the claims appended hereto.

1 claim 1-- l. A controlling instrument for train brake systems including, in combination: a

f brakes including-in combination: acasmg valve casing in communication with the tram pipeand' having a valve therein; mechanism-for holding said valve normally closed against the train-pipe air pressure; releasing meansfor said mechanism adapted to be operated by a train stop; a stop normally preventing said valve from opening completely when said releasing-means are open atcd and to thereby permit only a service application of the air brakesyand means for moving said'stop-to an inoperativeposition to thereby permit said valve to open fully and-cause jan iemergency application of the airbrakes, substantially as specified.

2. Aninstrument for controlling train having a valve therein; mechanismador' holding said valve. normally closed; means for releasing and opening said valve'and.,adapted to be automatically operatedg a stop nor- 7 Y mally preventing said valve from opening .to its full extent to thereby cause'only a service application of the air brakes; and

. neans, automatically operated, for subsethe interior of which is in commumcatwn "quently moving said stop to an inoperative position. after said valve is partly opened, to

.thereby cause an emergency application. of the air brakes, substantially as specified.

3. An instrument for controlling train brakes including, in combination: a casing with the train pipe, said casing havin a valve therein; mechanism normally holding said valve closed against the train-pipe air pressure; means,-adapted to be'tripped, to release and open said valve; a stop normally preventing the valve from assuming a completely open position to thereby cause only a service application of the air brakes; and automatically operated train-pipe air pressure-governed means for subsequently moving said stop to an inoperative position I to thereby permit said valve to open fully,

* and cause an. emergency application of the I brakes, substantially as specified l. An instrument for controlling train brakes including, in combination; 'a.,train pipe; a casing communicating therewith having a'valve and a port in said casing,

said valve normally closing said port; meiins,

adapted. to be automatically tripped, for releasing and opening said valve; means normally permitting said valve to open only partially;.and timed devices for rendering said meansinoperative whereby the valve .may assume a completely open position, substantially as specified. 5. A train brake controlling system f the -charac'ter describedincluding, in com ina-- tion: an instrument having a valve thereinf normally closing a port in communication with the train pipe, means controlled in ac cordance with track conditions for releasing said valve, means for stopping the valve i when it has opened suiiiciently to cause a service application of the brakes only; and means, automatically operated when the'air pressure in the train pipe has decreased to a predetermined amount due to saidvalve being automatically opened, for causing said stopping means to release the valve to cause an emergency application of the brakes, substantially as specified.

. 6. A train brake controlling system of thc operable by the engineer, and a pipe connec tion from said valve to vthe train pipe,

saidvalve having ports therein establishing communication between the train pipe and the atmosphere when the reservoir pipe is' in communication with the cylinder, whereby the engineer is prevented from resetting Y or keeping closed the train instrument valve without applying the brakes, substantially as specified.

7. A train brake controlling system of the character described including, in combination: a train instrument having a valve therein and means, controlled in accord- J ance with track conditions for releasing said valve and to okpen it to cause a service application of the rakes; means, under the con trol of the engineer, for resettingthe, valve and for prventing the resetting of sai valve without applying the air brakes, sub stantially as' specified.

8. A train brake controlling system of the character described including, in combination: a train instrument having a valve. K I

therein; and means controlled in accordance with track conditionsfor releasing and partially opening said valve to ther'ebycause a service application of the brakes only; timed air-pressure-governed means permitting said Y valve to open fully and thereby cause an emergency application *of the brakes; and devices, 'under the control-of the engineer,

for resetting said valve to closed position, Y Y- substantially as specified. Signed this 1st day of August, 1913, in'the Witnesses: I

JOSEPH Harms, WILLIAM A. GEIGER.

120, prese'nbe df twosubscribing witnesses;

neuron o. ROWEIQLF" 

